Gov't suspends subsidies for anti-government civic groups

SEOUL, May 7 (Yonhap) -- South Korea on Thursday decided to sever financial
subsidies for a number of civic groups accused of participating in illegal
anti-government demonstrations, officials said, accelerating its campaign to
crack down on such rallies.

The decision to strip "anti-government" private organizations of state subsidies
was made public after the government finalized a plan to dole out 4.9 billion won
(US$3.89 million) in subsidies to private non-profit organizations this year.
The Ministry of Public Administration and Security said that it has singled out
159 non-profit organizations out of 272 applicants as recipients of the annual
state subsidies, noting the 4.9 billion won would finance 162 public projects to
be initiated by the recipients.
Ministry officials said the list of those excluded included six civic groups that
received huge sums in state subsidies last year despite their participation in a
series of illegal street rallies in protest over the government's resumption of
U.S. beef imports.
"State financial subsidies were paid to the six civic groups last year because
the police belatedly notified the ministry of information on their participation
in the illegal street demonstrations," said a ministry official, refusing to
identify the six groups for reasons of privacy.
"We will not disclose the name of the six organizations but it is the first time
that we excluded bodies that took part in illegal rallies from the list of
subsidy recipients," the official said.
Last year's candlelight demonstrations continued throughout the summer and drew
millions who gathered to denounce Seoul's decision to resume U.S. beef imports.
The decision to exclude the groups is expected to raise questions over government
standards in selecting projects eligible for state funding.
Critics, in particular, pinpoint the government's decision to subsidize two
projects by the Korea Freedom League, a conservative civic group.
Projects newly eligible for government aid include 59 initiatives that fall under
the government's "100 government administrative tasks," a comprehensive list of
long-term policy goals proposed by the administration of President Lee Myung-bak.
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